Month: December 2009

Dec 27^th & 28th

We arrived in Nassau Harbor on Sunday afternoon.  We refueled and ran up the yellow quarantine flag.  Upon arrival we also discovered that we were to remain at the fuel dock and customs and immigration would come to check us in.   Customs and immigration were contacted and 1 ½ hours later they arrived only to find we had not been given the correct forms and so we had to hurriedly fill them out for the ladies.   We also found that the $150.00 check in fee only applies if you are less than 35ft.  We are 35ft and so were charged $300.00 to check in.  That’s not how it reads in the guide books.  I think it is all in how the immigration official is feeling that day.  Obviously, not having the forms at the ready, It being Sunday, and her having to break up a fight between her kids over the phone while she was waiting on us to complete the forms did not put her in the best of moods.   Oh Well, not much we can do.   We will have to catch a lot of lobster, conch and fish to make up to the extra money spent.   We are anchored with about 15 other boats (it seems many are Canadian) in an anchorage next to the Green Parrot, a local Restaurant and Bar.  It is also close to the part of town where we may find what we need to fix DD.  They have a dingy dock that they let the cruisers park at.  It was interesting waking up in a harbor and taking immediate notice of the change in morning sounds.  Cars, Radios, sounds of a city waking up, Non-seabirds, (even a rooster crowing).   Mike spent this morning replacing the alternator with the spare and although the light comes on now, It does not go off after a brief time, indicating there is still a problem and the batteries are still not being charged by the engine.   We finally gave up working on it for the day and took the dingy to shore and walked around to get the lay of the land.  There was not much happening as it is the Monday after Boxing Day and a major holiday on the Island.  (They take their holidays seriously around here) We found laundry facilities, which I will take advantage of very soon.  (There has not been much sun and without enough power to make water, we are conserving that also)  We walked under the bridge and found the local produce market and the conch, and fish shacks that sell the local fair.  We then went across the harbor and toured Atlantis Resort and Casino.   We saw many Lily white or lobster red families packed around numerous man-made pools and a private stretch of beach.   It was very Disneyland/water park/Casino in feel and although very opulent, nothing was complimentary including water.    Beers were $7.50.  Food, like Disneyland was extremely high priced.   It was interesting to walk through but I have seen all I want to and am ready for a more real adventure.   We stopped into an Ice Cream parlor near Atlantis but at $4.00 per scoop we opted not to indulge.    We made our way back to DD made ourselves a cocktail and had a nice dinner.  Mike’s had his nose in the manual this evening and will try to troubleshoot the power issue again in the morning.

Dec 26^th

We left North Cat Cay and made our way across the Great Bahama Bank and pulled another 12 hour day.   The sunset coming across the Banks was beautiful.  The water is various shades of turquoise and crystal clear.   We anchored at Chub Cay at around 7:00pm.   We spent the night but did not leave the boat to check in at Chub.  Dancing Dolphin is expressing her displeasure with us pushing her to get here by not charging our battery banks when the engine is running.   This leaves us with just our solar and wind for power.   To conserve what power we had left, (It has been cloudy for days) we prepared and ate dinner by candlelight and although romantic we can’t help but worry about having enough to keep our batteries happy and allow us the conveniences we have become accustomed to.   The solar and wind systems can keep up with a standard daily draw but cannot top off the batteries or keep them fully charged.  We need the extra power at times, especially if we want those little luxuries like communications or powering the water maker, etc.   We decided we will press on to Nassau as there is more in the way of repair facilities and access to parts.  The winds were in our favor and we made an easy 7 hour journey to Nassau.

Dec 25, 2009

We had been anchored in Angelfish Creek for 3 days watching the weather and waiting to cross to the Bahamas.   We had a window on Christmas day.  It was a small window but we thought if the weather does what they are predicting the winds should switch from the North to the E or SE and diminish somewhat and the seas should in turn also decrease enough to cross.   We set the alarm for Midnight.   I couldn’t sleep so I stayed awake till Mike got up at midnight to check the conditions of the weather.  The winds had switched to the East but had not diminished.  Mike and I decided to wait a few more hours to see if the winds would calm a little bit.  He told me to catch some sleep and he would wake me if a few hours.   At 2:30 am Christmas Day, we began what was to become one of my most memorable Christmases ever.    The winds had calmed to a gentle 17 kts from 20 and so we traversed the narrow channel from Angelfish Creek and made our way out into the Atlantic.   The waves had yet to decrease and once we left the shelter of the reef we were met with 5-7 ft seas.   We continued on, hoping that the weatherman’s predictions would somehow come to pass.   Unfortunately, when we reached the Gulf Stream the waves increased to 7-9 ft and were very confused in their presentation.  Mike asked me twice if I wanted him to turn back but I told him,” If he was OK than so was I.”  He told me later he was hoping I would just say, “Yes let’s turn around” No such luck.   We rodeo’d the 52 miles across to the Bahamas and arrived at 2:30pm on Christmas Day.  For several hours, Dancing Dolphin took quite a few of the larger waves over her bow but handled them well.    The waves did finally calm to 5-7 ft again just before we reached Gun Cay.   Exhausted but happy that the ordeal/Adventure was over we made our way through the cut and anchored behind North Cat Cay off the end of their Airstrip.  We were met by the official greeter at Cat Cay, a brown pelican who swam around the boat a couple of times before deciding we did not have much in the way of a fine Christmas dinner or bait to share with him.   We showered and I took some photos,  for my Dad, of Aircraft that flew over us just before landing at the small Airstrip.    We then opened a bottle of wine, toasted our crossing and opened our Christmas Gifts to each other.    Michael said that of the 5 crossings to or from the Bahamas that he has made.  This one was definitely the worst.   We both had suffered from mild seasickness during the crossing but neither allowed ourselves to succumb to it.  We made it through thanks to our wristbands and Mom’s candied ginger and keeping our eyes on the horizon.   We both went to bed shortly after sunset and except for Mike getting up to check the anchor when the wind shifted, (back to the North) we both slept for the next 12 hours.

Dec 24  10:30pm

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the boat, preparations were made to keep her afloat.   The children were visiting families and friends while Crystal and Michael envisioned warm trends.

We’ve studied the charts and the weather for days,  we’re determined to start on our sea gypsy ways.   So Mike in his Jacket and I donned mine too, weighed anchor that night hoping we’d make it through.

The window for crossing is ever so small but we must push on through or not go at all.   The North Winds are coming, the weather man gloomed, the window is closing and you’ll soon be marooned.  But the Windgen still humming, it’s supposed to slow soon, or at least that’s what the weather man said around noon.

The table top Christmas tree with its lights all aglow has been bagged for the night and is stowed down below.  Anything breakable, loose, or just light has all been tied down or is now packed up tight.

With a Thermos of coffee and plenty to eat, this night should be really a wonderful treat.  We’ve brought along extra this night as you know in case we see Santa before shouting Land Ho!

So out of safe harbor we left Christmas Eve, wondering “maybe we’re being just foolish to leave”.   Missing our family and friends gives us reason, to wish we could be by their side at this season.   It’s hard when our dreams at times take us away and we wish we could be in both places today.

But traveling out on this warm windy night, one can’t help but dream of those future delights.  Warm sands and water so clear and so blue, that you wonder if you’re looking at one sky or two.

Sailing between two heavens we go and we take you all with us in our hearts don’t you know!    So you’ll hear us exclaim as we sail out of sight.   Merry Christmas to all and to all,  “When’s your flight?”

Sunrise Dec 24th, 2009

Dec 21-24

We weathered the storms and pressed onward.   Our plan was to travel up to Angelfish Creek and wait for the weather to break to cross to the Bahamas.  Unfortunately as we were sailing north what broke was our inverter.  We weighed our options and realized that we could probably do without many of the conveniences it allowed us but one essential that we really needed it for was to power our laptops to allow us communication via e-mail and WiFi.  Addictions are hard to break.   So we spent the night at Pumpkin Key and traveled back to Key Largo to pick up a small inverter that will power our laptops while trying to figure out if we can live without the larger unit.   Sigh!  We made the best of it though getting up early and making it to Key Largo and back to Angelfish Creek in one day.   We also got out the Bikes and took them ashore to make our travel time less.   It felt good to pedal again.  We picked up a small 700watt inverter that should power everything we need for communications and for the vacuum.  Mike removed the inverter from it’s cubby.  Mike said, “It’s like trying to remove a 50lb rock from a crawl space.”  He really wanted to pitch it over the side when I asked him, ever so gently, in his current frustrated state, “how about opening it up and taking a look to see if it is just a loose wire or something maybe you could fix, it won’t make it any worse.”  He humored me and took off the housing, he checked connections and adjusted sensors.   He left it in the middle of the salon and hooked it up to the battery bank with some spare cables and Voila! It started humming!  I’m so glad he didn’t make it our 4^th anchor.  McGiver Mike muscled it back into it’s cubby and hooked it back up.  She is still working today and we’re crossing our fingers and toes that she keeps on keepin on.   We spent the next couple of days washing down Dancing Dolphin and readying her for her passage.  We also used up and I’m sure exceeded our minutes catching up and wishing many of our family and friends a Merry Christmas.   Today was spent reading, writing, relaxing, and putting on the last of the finishing touches to many of the projects on our to do list.  It is 9:30pm here.  Mike is sleeping as he will have first watch after getting us through the channel to the ocean tonight.   I am hurriedly attempting to get this finished and posted as I don’t know when I will have internet access again for a while.   I will try to get e-mail out to some of you during our passage across to the Bahamas via SSB e-mail.    I will sign off for now with my prayer for peace this holiday season and for the safety of our troops and an end to this prolonged futile war.  My you all be blessed this holiday season and in the coming New Year with good health, love, happiness, and prosperity.     See you on the other side!  (of the Gulf Stream that is!)

December 20^th,2010

Hello from Tarpon Basin, Key Largo.  Mike and I are hunkered down here in the Basin.  We are waiting out a cold front that is coming through and it has gotten down into the 50’s at night.  We are in long pants and wearing our woolie slippers that our friend Jackie made for us and feeling very grateful that we brought them with us after all.  We spent a couple of eventful days in Sunset cove off of Key Largo. Our first day here we put our dingy in the water and spent a delightful day taking a nice 3 mile walk up the Grocery Store and back,  we stopped at the Tower of Pizza and enjoyed one of our last Pizza’s before leaving for parts unknown.  We have been able to catch a bit of TV on occasion (Thanks to Mike’s little TV antennae that he hauls up the mast)  We saw that there was an approaching storm and felt we were in a good place to ride it out.    The next day brought winds in the 25 – 45 kts range and heavy rain squalls.    Our windgen was really got a workout and we eventually had to tie it off.   I put up our Christmas tree during the storm as a way of feeling somewhat normal during the ordeal(Oh I meant adventure).   During the brunt of the storm the winds came up from the south west but as the rain passed stonger winds clocked around to come from the N/NW.  Dancing Dolphin had a rough night hobby horsing around her anchor.   We moved her over into Tarpon Basin yesterday morning.   We are encircled by Mangroves here and have better protection here than Sunset Cove.   So now Mike and I are hunkered down here in the Basin.  DD is doing well at keeping us safe and dry and likes the calmer water.   We took our Dingy, Mighty Mouse, on a windy, wild ride over into Blackwater Sound and walked over to a local flea Market and a bookstore yesterday.     It is still blowing and cold today.  We will probably move the boat tomorrow or Tuesday and re-fuel prior to crossing the gulf stream to the Bahamas on Wed or Thursday.  So hopefully we will be there by Christmas.    Today is a day for Telephone calls to those friends we had not touched base with for a while to gather last minute contact information and say our farewells until such time as we can enjoy their company again.   We hope that some will seriously consider meeting up with us during our travels and we look forward to meeting and making many new friends along the way.    It is noon here and the sun just broke through the cloud cover for the first time today making the water sparkle. There are a couple of mooching gulls that have been hanging around the boat waiting on any scraps.  They always show up around mealtimes.   Smart Birds.   If we hang around here much longer I’m sure I’ll end up naming them too.

Hello everyone my Name is Lexi,  Mike and Crystal named me after Vince and Lore’s dog as it is the only other animal that poops as much as I did in my short time staying on their boat.   I’m cute though just like Lexi the Dog so I can get away with it.

December 16, 2009

Well, we cast off our dock lines at 10:30 Dec 13, and said a bittersweet farewell to our home for the last 3 months.  We can’t thank Mikes Mom Lore and Stepdad Vince enough for the wonderful hospitality and support they have given us.   We will miss cocktail hour and the wonderful meals always at the ready at the end of a long work day on the boat.    We will miss the antics of Miss Lexi Ann their Bijon/Poodle mix.   (Ok, except for her habit of eating Crystal’s Sunglasses).    Vince said a fond farewell for both he and Lore as Mom had to fly to Colorado to be at the bedside of Mike’s Sister Kathy who has suddenly taken ill.  Our prayers are with her daily and we are keeping up to date via our boat e-mail address.   As I write this we have traveled around the south end of FL and are anchored off of Upper Matacumbe Key in the FK keys.   After we left Punta Gorda, we traveled across Charlotte Harbor and through the GICW down to just south of Pine Island.  We were treated to many pods of dolphin dancing around the boat as a send off as well as a baby that was playing slip and slid over the backs of the adults.   There has been little wind and we have had to motor or motor sail for much of our time.    The bird life between Gordon Pass and Marco Island was phenomenal.  We were treated to the aerial acrobatics of frigates and pelicans, what amazing flyers.  We anchored next to Coconut Island which was more of a sand spit than an Island but the bay was calm and we had a restful night sleep.   We are still continuing to learn about the boats systems and consider this our shakedown.   Our table took a hard bump from the wake of a passing boat and we had to repair it as the wood attached to the floor split.   We stayed at Little Shark River and even though it is December the bugs were still voracious even ¼ mile offshore.  (Just like Mike remembered)  Again we were greeted and sent off by the Dolphins.   They have been welcome company and always bring a smile.  Mike has worked out some glitches in the Windgen system and Crystal continues to battle a couple of software/hardware compatibility issues to keep us in communication with you all.   A bit of good news,   Mike tested the Watermaker today and it appears to be working, if not up to capacity, at least at 6 gal per hour.   It is a welcome addition to our cruising lifestyle.   It has taken quite a bit of work to get here but it has been worth it.   We think of our friends and family daily and hope you are all blessed with good health and happiness this holiday season and throughout the coming year.   Our cell phone will work for the next week or so and then we will be accessible via e-mail only.  We have a new e-mail that we can access from the boat daily and also a WiFi booster for when we get close enough to shore to access the internet.  The boat e-mail is somewhat limited as it downloads to our computer at the rate of dialup but if you would like to have it please drop us a line at our gmail addresses and we will send it to you.    Well,  there are storm clouds on the horizon and so I had better wrap this up for now…….more to come!    Meanwhile here are some photos from the last few days!

December 6, 2009

I know, I know, you probably thought, “They’ve sailed off over the horizon and haven’t even bothered to let anyone know” Well, almost but not quite.  We have been spending the last few weeks getting to know Dancing Dolphin, our 35ft Victory Catamaran that will be our home for the next couple of years.   We have been busy making lists and outfitting her for our extended cruise throughout the Caribbean.   Parts have proved a challenge to come by.  We had to send to England for a new propeller.  Mike has immersed himself in the boats many systems from engine to electronics and has been spending his time changing fluids and stocking up on spare parts as well as learning the many systems of our new home.   Crystal has been studying the HAM operators’ manual and ACED both her Technician and General Operator tests so that she now holds a FCC license to use our SSB Radio for E-Mail as well as weather fax operations.   After replacing the propeller, Mike’s mom and stepdad, Lore & Vince, and Mike and I took Dancing Dolphin across Charlotte Harbor to the Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage, a wonderful family owned boatyard that allows people to live aboard their boats while working on various projects.  We first learned about this boatyard when we were shopping for a boat a couple of years ago.  We had visited and found the yard to be really accommodating to cruisers and others on a tight budget.  To get to the boatyard we had to take D.D. through a narrow self operated lock and then through a nature reserve and fresh water canals to the yard.  It took us about 4 hours to cross and we saw many Stingrays in large groups as we motored our way on a windless day across smooth water under blue skies.  We also were privileged to get to see wild boar, rosy spoonbills as well as a couple of flamingos.    We made arrangements to spend at least a week in the yard to clean and repaint the bottom of Dancing Dolphin and clean and upgrade her sonic outdrive as well as give her a good polish before her trip to the Bahamas.    The boatyard has a wonderful screened central meeting room with cooking facilities, bathrooms and showers, as well as a sewing area.   When we arrived and pulled  alongside the dock, we immediately had at least 4 hands running down from the meeting room to hand off lines to and help us tie up to the dock.   Within minutes we were on a first name basis with many of the people staying in the boatyard and were welcomed with open arms, like I said a real family atmosphere.   We spent eight days working on D.D. and giving her a new coat of bottom paint that we hope will last for the next couple of years.  Mike also spent quite a bit of time working on the Sonic Drive and making it look like new again.   Crystal spent her time painting, scrubbing, polishing, and of course tracking down parts.   We were told we were setting a bad example as we would arrive in the morning and work until sunset when the general work day in the yard did not usually extend beyond about 4 hours. They were forgiving of us though and we were invited to our first cruisers potluck and Dolly Parton look-alike contest.  We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the hilarious antics of the Yard Dog Acting Company, made up entirely of cruisers past and present staying in the yard.  We finally completed many of our repairs and brought D.D. back to Punta Gorda to complete our provisioning for our trip to the Bahamas. The parts for the auto helm just arrived today.  We are waiting for a couple of additional parts and are stocking the boat with the final provisions.  We are finally coming down to the wire and can see us actually sailing over that horizon in the next week or so,  weather pending, as many of our future adventures will be.   We are now on a time line and will be meeting Crystal’s parents in Georgetown at the end of January and entertaining Carl Pitts at the end of February.  We are looking forward to their visits as well as our own explorations of the Bahamas.   I will try not to let so much time go by till my next entry as this one could easily have become a novelette.  Here are some Pics of the last few weeks.